Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, January 17 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Heger's '76' is over
Eduard Heger wears his "76" hockey jersey. (source: Eduard Heger's Facebook page)
Interim PM Eduard Heger (OĽaNO) admitted on Tuesday that he will not be able to form a new government with full competences after the opposition SaS party announced that it would not provide Heger with its MPs' signatures.
SaS is Heger's former coalition partner, which brought Heger's cabinet down in December of last year.
In total, Heger would need at least 76 lawmakers to back his next government and to remain the prime minister.
Now Heger is going to seek an agreement on the date snap elections may take place, something that political parties cannot agree on at present.
But even with the agreed date, there is a legislative challenge in parliament that needs to be overcome before snap elections are held.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
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FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
New York-based artist on his effort to obtain Slovak citizenship by ancestry
James Monroe Števko (source: Archive of J. M. Števko)
Dancer and actor James Monroe Števko, 36, picked up a family photo album one day, beginning a twelve-year journey of uncovering his family's roots. Today, he decided to apply for Slovak citizenship.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Belgian prosecutor's office will prosecute no one for the death of Slovak citizen Jozef Chovanec, who died at Charleroi airport in 2018 following the police's illegal and scandalous intervention, the local Het Laatste Nieuws daily has reported. The conclusions of the Belgian prosecutor's office not to propose criminal prosecution of any persons are not definitive, Slovakia's Foreign Ministry said. The opposition party Hlas-SD has said that the Belgian authorities failed to punish the culprits and are responsible for the murder of the Slovak citizen.
The Hockey News website has listed Nela Lopušanová, a 14-year-old Slovak forward, as one of the top players at this year's U-18 Women's World Championship. At the tournament, she was named the most valuable player and best forward.
British artist Ruan Calum Crighton died in a plane crash on January 15, 2023 in Pokhara, Nepal. He worked in the Slovak National Theatre's ballet department from 2008 to 2013. He very quickly became a soloist. (source: SND)
TheRussian embassy marked the 1945 liberation of Poltár, a town in the south of central Slovakia, with local authorities, including mayor Peter Sitor, on January 13. A Soviet flag was erected, and the Soviet anthem was played. Interim Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) criticised the presence of Russians at the gathering given Russia's war in Ukraine, referring to people at the meeting as scum on social media. Sitor, who won the mayoral seat with the support of the far-right Republika party and the Hlas-SD and Smer-SD parties last year, rejects the military support of Ukraine.
The opposition party Smer-SD, led by triple ex-PM Robert Fico, will hold talks with any party that is anti-fascist, pro-European and prosocial after the next parliamentary elections. Fico cannot imagine Slovakia exiting the EU. "It would be a huge mistake," he said, adding that the country must be more vocal and visible. (Plus 7 Dní)
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